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It can safely be said that the vast majority of people has had a burger at least once in their lives, and that a lot of people like it. Quite frankly, I was a burger fan until around last year when I stumbled upon an article that shocked me. This article discussed the less known facts about beef patties in many gourmet burgers, some even from top tier restaurants. It was no surprise to me that research found these beef patties to contain an exorbitant amount of hormones, but the real alarming fact was some patties contained up to 128 distinct sets of DNA, or more simply, is a mix of who knows what from 128 different cows. I’m not talking about 1 dollar burgers from McDonalds, but rather a few (anonymous) high class restaurants that “foodies” would fancy.

So what would Fukuoka say about this “foodie” meal?

First of all, he would not be too happy about the idea of the burger itself. Ground beef isn’t natural, and neither are the (most of the time) commercially grown buns that go over it. In terms of the beef, it’s parallel with his description of chicken eggs. “And commercial chicken eggs are nothing more than a mixture of synthetic feed, chemicals, and hormones” (Fukuoka, 94). Many cows are constantly injected with hormones to help them grow faster, which is obviously not how nature intended for them to be grown, let alone the fact that 128 different cows are put together to create one patty. As far as the buns are concerned, pesticides are used in the production of wheat buns. Again, something that Fukuoka points out as going against the forces of nature.

As Fukuoka says, “At the heart of natural farming is an understanding of the unity of existence; the ability to see the natural patterns in everything.” But nowadays, the only patterns we see, even in “foodie” foods, are cheap production and a high selling price.

Nowadays, unless it has the word “organic” written all over it, I always think twice before ordering a burger.